Barnaby Joyce

The Nationals Member For New England

$41m on its way to councils in the New England Electorate, says Barnaby Joyce

21 Aug 2015

FEDERAL Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce said Local Governments in the electorate of New England are set to benefit from more than $41 million funding under the Australian Government’s Financial Assistance Grant programme in 2015-16.

The Australian Government is providing $2.3 billion to Local Governments nationwide in 2015-16. This includes $1.1 billion in Financial Assistance Grants already paid to councils to ensure they had immediate access to untied funding to support local priorities.

Councils in the New England Electorate will receive a total of $41,029, 447 this financial year. This includes the early payment of $20,367,956.

“The Coalition Government is committed to supporting local government to deliver the services and facilities they need,” Mr Joyce said.

“We will deliver $9.45 billion to Local Governments from 2015-16 to 2018-19 through the Financial Assistance Grant programme to provide services and build community infrastructure.

“Councils are free to spend this untied grant funding according to local priorities, including for infrastructure, health, recreation, environment, employment and roads projects.

“The first quarterly payment of $5,165,373 for 2015-16 has been made,” he said.

“This is in addition to the Government’s $3.2 billion Roads to Recovery programme - $1.45 billion more than Labor provided under their programme,” Mr Joyce said.

Councils in the New England Electorate will receive the following Financial Assistance Grants funding:

“Councils in the New England Electorate can also benefit from Round Two of the Government’s new $300 million Bridges Renewal Programme which is available exclusively to local government. Up to $100 million will be provided for the repair and replacement of local bridges around Australia to deliver better transport links for their communities and industries.

“Applications for Round 2 close on 31 August.

“The Government also committed a further $200 million under the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Programme, providing councils with funding for important local infrastructure over five years from 2014-15.

“To further reduce crashes on Australian roads, an additional $200 million had been committed by the Government over the next two years under the $500 million Black Spot Programme.

“The Coalition Government is committed to ensuring local councils and the communities they serve get the funding they need to deliver the infrastructure and services of the 21st century.

Full details of the allocations to councils under the Financial Assistance Grant Programme are available online at regional.gov.au/local/assistance/index.aspx